Clean Agent Selection Approached by Fuzzy TOPSIS Decision-Making Method

Abstract. It is well known that halons are ozone-depleting substances and their release into the atmosphere has contributed in the last decades to the reduction in the ozone layer. In consequence to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement designed to gradually eliminate the use of such substances, fire protection industry researchers faced the challenge of finding effective solutions to replace halon extinguishers. This research aims to provide a method to support the decision maker in the selection of the most suitable extinguisher substance for a specific application. According to such framework, a set of quantitative and qualitative criteria has been established in the decision-making problem. Such criteria have been properly regrouped in clusters in order to better evaluate their relative importance by means of AHP method and the criteria have been used for scoring the alternatives. The choice of an extinguisher substance rather than another has been subsequently carried out by means of a fuzzy TOPSIS approach, which reflects the vagueness of qualitative criteria.